68 



AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



A Summary of Fertiuzer Influences on Apples. 



It is impossible in the present space to consider all our ex- 

 periments singly, to the extent done with the three just con- 

 sidered. Before passing to the last stage of our discussion, 

 however, it seems desirable to present a brief tabular sum- 

 mary of the fertilizer influences shown in six of the experi- 

 ments, including the three just considered. This summary 

 shows the calculated influences of the various fertilizer ele- 

 ments on the four most important characteristics of apples, 

 viz., their yield, color, average size and amount of wood- 

 growth. The relative values of the different elements during 

 a five-year period, in terms of benefit over the normal results 

 obtained without fertilization, are shown in Table V. 



TABLE v.— influence OF FERTILIZER ELEMENTS ON APPLES. 



Average Benefits over the Normal Results without Fertilization 1908 to 1912. 



Without going into details it may be noted that in general 

 the same influences that have materially increased the yields 

 have also increased the growth. In other words, our best 

 growing plats have as a rule been our best fruiting plats. On 

 sound, healthy trees, this will generally be the case unless 

 either occurs to an abnormal extent, in which case the othei 

 may be somewhat reduced. Mild injuries may also stimulate 

 yields at the expense of growth, and thus obscure the general 

 rule. 



